The Masterful Suggestions

[Berserker Pride]

Words fail me that is a beautiful troop tree.  I'll have to try to put aside some room in the old race list for a 10% smaller troop.  And I've been thinking that perhaps the black strugglers could wield either a weak non-fake arm version of the hand cannon or a bomb like Gutts uses. 

As for their Mo I doubt that enough people have survived being sacrificed for them to make up a whole troop.  But anyone who has ever run into an apostle and escaped alive would be a good candidate to become a Black Stuggler.  Kinda like Gutts ran into Zodd and the Hawks ran into Wyald.  Their experiences taught them that there are more powerful things in the world than other men.  This perspective on strength drives them to push their body harder than anyone.
Their hero version once I make him will of course be someone who has been sacrificed and escaped.  If Gutts can escape the eclipse which was in essence a super-sacrifice then I am sure it is possible to escape a regular sacrifice and the birth of a regular apostle.  And of course a little outside help would be handy too. Maybe you come upon a sacrifice in progress and find this guy actually taking it to the apostle.  And he could use my new obsidian falchion!

 

[MorrisB]

@Arankor: yup, you should be more selective about what you quote... btw, Griffith's faction is already present, though the city of Falconia isn't. But perhaps it's better that way...

@Berserker Pride: guess you are right about the Black Strugglers. Btw, what bonus would the hero version provide ? Or would it be just a powerhouse ? In any case, Black Strugglers could indeed use some sort of short-range gunpowder weaponry, but not bombs/grenades. Some sort of smaller, one-shot hand-cannon that causes area-of-effect damage could work maybe, but that's just a quick idea.

Regarding the "regular" sacrifices: I always wondered that what happens if a branded person kills the Apostle who branded him, just right after the transformation ? Would be pretty ironic, wouldn't it ? but guess the other demons would try to eat him/her anyway...

 

[Berserker Pride]

Regarding the "regular" sacrifices: I always wondered that what happens if a branded person kills the Apostle who branded him, just right after the transformation ? Would be pretty ironic, wouldn't it ?  but guess the other demons would try to eat him/her anyway...

I kinda hope it is a funny moment.  This new guy just dominates the newly transformed apostle and Gutts bails him out by helping him defeat the various spirits that seem to be present during a sacrifice.  Definitely Ironic though.  Its like the apostle tells the guy I have sacrificed you to the Godhand now.  You are as good as dead.  And then the man says "NO U"!

 

[PalyFTW]

im thinking, what do you think make him stay with his sword on his sholder on he walks, not only when he stands?

 

[Berserker Pride]

Before I do anything with that I think I need to fix the existing standing animation.  And from there it would be doable to tweak the standing animation into a walk animation.

 

[Fierce Headmaster]

Walking with his sword still on his back is much better, as it seems silly and tiresome to wave that sword around while walking and stopping.


It is possible to make a weapon that uses the punch animation? Silat could REALLY use this. 2 Katars, one being a weapon, and the another a shield version.

 

[Berserker Pride]

Well I just modelled the Katar on the Screenshots page so it is already done.  Weapons that use the punch animation aren't possible but it looks passable when you use the cleaver or dagger animation.

 

[MorrisB]

While I was working on characters and companions, several questions/ideas popped up. I consulted some with Berserker Pride, and thought I'd share one of the best one with you guys:

There could be a neutral city-state on the map (somewhere along the Kushan borderlands, but not on Kushan territory), ruled over by an Apostle called the "Big Sister" (this figure is also a creation of mine). The Big Sister runs a sort of one-person dictatorship in the city. Her ability is to make "faces" appear seemingly anywhere she wants (walls, furniture, etc.); these faces are an extension of her will, able to see and hear anything in their surroundings and can also talk to people. She can maintain hundreds of "faces" at once, this way she keeps the town under constant watch and humiliates people (like by making a face appear on the wall above a couple of lovers and "compliments" their deed). She has access to every information in the city and resistance is nigh impossible because she can immediately spot would-be rebellions and send her lackeys to crush them. In her monster form, she appears as a large octopus-like creature with dozens of tentacles ending in human hands with which she can use objects (fence with swords, throw things etc.), and her head has four faces, each with a different personality: an angry little girl, an envious young maid, a greedy middle-aged woman and an arrogant old hag.

Point is, what happens if the player approaches the town ? Well, the Big Sister will send her soldiers and all those lunatics she has driven mad (about 300 mediocre and low-level troops in total). So show some GUTS (duh ) and beat their asses. Wo-ho, turns out you heroic act of self-defense raises a rebellion in your favor. All you have to do is to get rid of Big Sister, who, while superhuman, is not all that strong (weaker than the Baron or the Count). In their happyness, the townspeople accept you as their new boss. Sweet deal, right ? And since this place is neutral, you can start your own kingdom without messing with any major country. Of course, you can claim it even if you're already a king, but that's not the same... ah well...

On a sidenote, since an octopus-like creature would be hard to model, I came up with an idea for an alternate form which Berserker Pride saw possible to create. In this version, the Big Sister's apostle form is that of a legless, big slimy flesh bulb with several couples of arms (including two great "main" arms which have mouths on the palms; she uses the main arms as her "weapon/shield"), and a head with four faces and Medusa hairstyle.

(NOTES: the Big Sister is basically a physical manifestation of tyranny - a sole person/group willing to control every aspects of one's life. Her name is a reference to George Orwell's novel "1984". The nature of her four faces embody 4 out of the 7 Deadly Sins, namely Wrath, Envy, Greed and Pride. Furthermore, "4" is a very unlucky number in several far-eastern cultures. Those who seek symbolism and the like will find the situation pretty ironic - seemingly hopeless situation turns out to be "easily" solvable. As we all know, tyrants are strong only until the majority gets tired of their crap and throw them out. Horray for revolution !)

 

[Fierce Headmaster]

Uhh, the "Big Brother", I know that one.

Great idea MorrisB, this city (plus the Count and the Snakeman ones) would be the perfect 3 towns for Guts' Faction if they appear as neutral.

A suggestion (and obvious one):

Femto. Where is Griffith's God Hand form? I want to scream "HAVE AT YOU" at some armoured purple bat.

 

[Berserker Pride]

Well I did finally get Slan ingame.  Tried and failed with gmax for like an entire day then once I figured out Blender I rigged her in 30 minutes .  The others will get done eventually.

 

[Arankor]

I just got an idea!
During those quick battles after you choose to play as Guts, during the part where you have to kill Gambino, he still has his leg.
Why not make a special set of armor that makes it look like he is only walking on one leg (while humorously managing to walk normally on one leg)?

 

[Berserker Pride]

Well if you look closely he has a peg leg.  I'm not sure how I could get him to not look like a mutant with a one leg mesh.  I could try it out and see I guess.  He "might" look like he is hopping around.

 

[Knightmaster]

When Gutts has a showdown with Griffith (after you have decimated all his lords and captured his towns and castles), would it be possible to change Griffith in to his Femto form? During his real form his stats will increase enourmously (strenght, speed and so on...)
And could you make a custom scene involving the battle between Gutts and Femto? The fighting in the arena with Griffith was a bit meh... 

 

[Berserker Pride]

Good Idea.  Griffith's real form is Femto now.  The way I see it the new human Griffith is an illusion.  I need a new supertrippy custom scene for the battle though.  How you meet Griffith will be redone via quickbattle as well with Corkus jumping you and everything. 

 

[Knightmaster]

So after Griffith and his neo band of hawk have conquered Kuskhan lands, does it mean, that the band of hawk changes to kingdom of Falconia? ( I was wondering this because in the manga, after the band of hawk was victorious in the battle against Ganishka, the kingdom of Falconia was formed immediately). And thus would this make kingdom of Falconia a new faction with new vassals and troops?

 

[Berserker Pride]

Well I need to create a new city to be the start of the kingdom of Falconia.  I would also have to somehow kill off Ganishka and replace him with a human king to lead the remnants of the Kushan empire.  I think I'll rename the Neo-Hawks to be the Kingdom of Falconia right off the bat.

 

[Knightmaster]

And does Kingdom of Falconia receive new troops or new vassals (for example Sir Owen and Sir Laban, they would probably become Griffith's new vassals.) The remnants of Midland would become a part of the kingdom of Falconia, thus new troops.

 

[Berserker Pride]

I also need to code that in.  What will end up happening is once Griffith shows up I run a massive trigger that converts all remaining midland castles to belong to Griffth. This will instantly trigger the faction defeated midland.  From there the lords will all go their separate ways.  I think I will leave them randomly finding new kingdoms.  It's less of a hassle that way.

 

[Knightmaster]

Sounds good, but will there be new troops/troop trees for kingdom of Falconia?

 

[Berserker Pride]

I'll probably flesh out their troop tree more that it is now.  They still have five different kinds of dangerous apostles to deal with.